I have a large Mash object with lots of nested Mashes. Some of the data I want to get is several layers in like:

phone = profile.phone_numbers.all.first.phone_number
title = profile.positions.all.first.title

However, phone_numbers or positions may be nil or empty. What's the most effective way of nil checking without having to nil check each level. Is there a general technique to use?

Ick's maybe is there to help you!

Use it like this:

phone = maybe(profile) {|p| p.phone_numbers.all.first.phone_number}

# or like this.
phone = profile.maybe.phone_numbers.
                maybe.all.
                maybe.first.
                maybe.phone_number

Or you can prefer a simpler solution: Object#andand. It functions in a similar way.

phone = profile.andand.phone_numbers.
                andand.all.
                andand.first.
                andand.phone_number

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